In some situations, it may be desirable to dispense a substance in a convenient manner from a supply of the substance to a receiver or target region. For example, it may be desirable to dispense a human body skin care moisturizing lotion or cream from a container through a discharge spout or conduit to a person's hand or other body part. Examples of finger-actuated pumps for dispensing lotions, creams, etc. from a small container onto a person's hand are disclosed in the U.S. Pat. No. 4,991,746, No. 6,332,561, and No. 6,364,181.
The inventors of the present invention have observed that after a quantity of a lotion or similar substance has been dispensed from some types of dispensers, a residual drop or residue of the substance sometimes remains hanging like a “tail” from the end of the discharge spout or conduit. Such a residual, hanging tail of the substance might be more likely to occur and/or be more pronounced in a dispenser wherein the substance is relatively viscous and/or wherein a portion of the spout or discharge conduit is vertically oriented at the discharge opening. The inventors of the present invention have discovered that, at least in some applications, the existence of a hanging tail of the substance may be aesthetically undesirable and/or may even result in an unwanted deposit of the substance if the tail later drops or falls away.
The inventors of the present invention have determined that for at least some applications using some types of dispensers to dispense some types of fluent substances, it may be desirable to provide an actuating system that can eliminate, or at least reduce or substantially minimize, the formation of a residual tail of the substance hanging from the discharge opening of the discharge conduit.
The inventors of the present invention have further determined that it would be beneficial to provide an improved actuating system for a dispensing system containing a substance (i.e., product) that can be readily applied to a target region. Such an actuating system could be advantageously employed in a variety of applications, including, but not limited to, applications for dispensing consumer products, for example, cosmetic products.
The inventors of the present invention have also discovered that it would be desirable to provide, at least for one or more types of products (i.e., substances), an improved actuating system that can be configured with the dispensing system so as to permit the systems to have one or more of the following attributes or features:    A. a design that prevents, or at least reduces, the ingress of dirt or other contaminants from the exterior environment, and    B. a design that prevents, or at least reduces, leakage of the product and reduces or minimizes messiness.
The inventors of the present invention have also discovered that it would be desirable to provide, at least for one or more types of products (i.e., substances), an improved actuating system that can be configured with the dispensing system so as to have one or more of the following advantages:    A. ease of manufacture and/or assembly, and    B. low cost manufacture and/or assembly.